1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computing technology; and more specifically, to mechanisms for efficiently recovering data from a backup computing system to a primary computing system.
2. Background and Related Art
Computing technology has transformed the way we work and play. Business, residences, and other enterprises have come to rely on computing systems to manage their key operational data. Often, the data itself is many times more valuable to an enterprise that the computing hardware that stores and manages the data. Accordingly, in this information age, many enterprises have taken precautions to protect their data.
One way of protecting data is to introduce storage redundancy. For example, a primary computing system maintains and operates upon the active data. Meanwhile, a backup computing system maintains a copy of the data as the active data existed at a previous instant in time. The backup copy of the data is periodically updated. More frequent updates tend to increase the freshness of the data at the backup computing system.
At some point, the data at the primary computing system may become inaccessible or otherwise lost. For example, the data may become corrupted due to a system failure or viral infiltration. Software (such as the operating system, application, or drivers) needed to access the data may also be corrupted. Furthermore, hardware needed to access the data may become damaged. For instance, the disk drive or computing system may become damaged by a wide variety or realistic scenarios. The computing system may be dropped in the case of a portable system, or may even be intentionally harmed by a user or passerby. A wide variety of possible natural disasters may also harm the primary computing system. Whatever causes the failure, recovery occurs by restoring or replacing any needed hardware for the primary computing system, and then copying disk sectors from the backup computing system back to the primary computing system.
When recovering data access after such a failure, time is money. Depending on the enterprise size and operation, each minute without operational data may mean thousands, or even millions, of dollars in lost revenue. Accordingly, what would be advantageous are mechanisms for quickly recovering data access to a primary computing system.